Second Place
by tinylexie
Summary: Draco always came into second place to Harry Potter, until the night Draco finally came in first place. Not slash.


**Author's Note****: This fic is mostly canon; it's based on what we actually saw in the **_**Harry Potter**_** series.**

It did not take Draco long to grow tired of constantly hearing Harry Potter's name.

Draco didn't understand why everyone insisted on worshiping that scarhead. He wasn't anyone special. And people actually thought that scarhead Potter was somehow responsible for defeating the Dark Lord, the greatest wizard to have ever lived? It just wasn't possible. Potter wasn't better than everyone else.

Potter wasn't even that smart. That Mudblood Hermione Granger had Potter beat on intelligence, and admitting that a Mudblood was smart was not something that Draco enjoyed doing.

Yet, people continued to worship Potter, as if he was actually some great and powerful wizard. Well, when was that greatness finally going to show itself? And when was Potter finally going to reveal his amazing, out-of-this-world power that no other wizard or witch could ever hope to possess?

Everything that Harry Potter did was amazing. He swallowed the Golden Snitch during his first Quidditch match. The general response, _What a great catch Potter made. And wasn't it amazing how he was able to stay on his broom, even after it started to act all funny and out-of-control?_

Unbelievable. What was wrong with people? Potter wasn't even that great at Quidditch. His catch had been lucky. As for staying on his erratic broom, well, Draco could have done the same. Potter was only placed on the Quidditch team because he was some wonderful hero and savior. And if he really was so wonderful, then why did he need a Nimbus Two Thousand? Surely someone as talented as Harry Potter didn't need a top-of-the-line broomstick. Shouldn't he be able to show off all his legendary skills on a regular broomstick?

But then again, people felt sorry for Harry Potter, so Harry Potter just had to have the best of everything.

After that first Quidditch match, Draco tried taunting Potter about how he had no one who wanted him to come home for the Christmas holidays (unlike Draco), but the blond-haired boy's joy only lasted for a moment. The fact that Potter's Muggle (he had really been sent to live with Muggles?) relatives didn't want him at home only made people feel sorrier for the scarhead. Which, in turn, made the people worship Potter even more. _Look at that poor, great suffering hero._

To put it simply, Draco quickly became sick and tired of it all. He was Draco Malfoy, the son of Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy. Draco Malfoy was a proud Pureblood, the son of two proud Purebloods. Purebloods were superior to everyone else.

Yet, no one seemed to care about any of that. All that people seemed to care about was poor, little Harry Potter and his horrible, tear-worthy life. Well, take a bow already, Harry Potter, and be done with it.

Draco complained to his parents about it over the Christmas holidays.

Narcissa Malfoy's response had been to offer her beloved son more sweets. Narcissa Malfoy had then told him about how wonderful he was and how proud she was of him. In Narcissa Malfoy's eyes, Draco was the most wonderful child in the world.

That helped, at least until Draco had to return to Hogwarts and to bloody, scarhead Harry Potter.

Lucius Malfoy's response had not to be offer sweets or words of comfort. No, his response had been to make a snide, sarcastic comment (as was his norm whenever he was upset about something, a trait that Draco had clearly inherited).

"What a shame," Lucius Malfoy had sneered, "that not all of us can be poor little orphans that come from such tragic backgrounds."

That had been Lucius Malfoy's way of saying that he understood Draco's complaints, but it had also been his way of saying that he really wanted Draco to stop whining about it because he had heard more than enough.

So Draco did stop whining and complaining, at least until he returned once again from Hogwarts for the summer holidays, fresh from his time being spent near the ever so wonderful Harry Potter.

It didn't help when Draco started playing Quidditch either. Potter just always had to come up on top. Just because Potter had a bloody Firebolt did not make him a better flyer and a better Seeker than Draco.

But as good as Draco was in various things, he always came in second place to Harry Potter. Harry Potter just always had to win everything.

People felt sorry for Potter because of what had happened to his parents. But no one ever felt sorry for Draco after his father's imprisonment in Azkaban. Lucius Malfoy was just a filthy Death Eater to the Wizarding community, while James and Lily Potter were seen as martyrs.

So what if James and Lily Potter had been willing to die for their son? Draco knew that his parents would be willing to do the same for him. Yet, Draco knew that no one would care if Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy ever died to keep their son alive.

No matter what, Draco Malfoy would never measure up to Harry Potter. No matter what, Harry Potter would always come in first place, while Draco Malfoy would have to be satisfied with second place.

Then came the night when Narcissa Malfoy asked Potter if Draco was alive and well at Hogwarts. When Potter indicated that Draco was fine, Narcissa Malfoy told the Dark Lord that Potter was dead.

But Narcissa Malfoy had not lied because she was some Harry Potter worshiper. No, she had lied because she had known that being a part of the "victorious side" would be the only way she and her husband would be able to go and look for Draco.

For Narcissa Malfoy, it had been all about her precious Draco. Harry Potter had only been a secondary concern to her.

And it was Draco, not Potter, which Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy hugged later that night when they finally found him. They really could have cared less what happened to Potter, just as long as their Draco was all right.

For once in his life, Draco Malfoy had come in first place over Harry Potter.


End file.
